In mail production equipment, various activities take place for the purpose of producing mail pieces. Such activities include the selection of inserts, the collection and stacking of the selected inserts, the placing of the inserts into an envelope and the sealing of the envelope to form the mail piece. In order for the inserts to be stuffed into an envelope, the mouth of the envelope may be opened so as to be able to receive the inserts.
Typically, the flap of the envelope is opened after the envelope has been removed from an envelope supply stack.
The prior art used a variety of different stripping blades to open the envelope while the envelope was in motion. The foregoing proved difficult to accomplish because the envelope was typically moving at a high rate of speed while the stripping blade attempted to engage the underside of the envelope flap to separate the flap from the envelope body. Consequently, the stripping blade did not always engage the underside of the envelope flap, resulting in unflapped or closed envelopes. A closed envelope will cause jamming during the insertion process.